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How can I change my username in Minecraft 1.6 or later? It used to be possible, but that method doesn't work anymore since the way the game launches has completely changed. Is it still possible to set your username using a command, script, or anything else?

(Solutions tailored to Mac OS X specifically are appreciated.)

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    @fbueckert Given the major changes to the way Minecraft launches, I wonder if a new question about changing username post-1.6 is warranted. All the previous questions were just about the implementation, because the fact it could be done was known and taken for granted. Now that it appears to be impossible (?), a new question asking "Is it possible to set your offline username in 1.6+?" might be useful and not duplicate the intent of previous questions. More pragmatically, I don't think bountying is going to help, since it's not a simple update, but entirely new knowledge needed. Thoughts?
    – SevenSidedDie
    Commented Sep 15, 2013 at 19:21
  • @fbueckert I did an edit for such a possible question, to demonstrate what I'm thinking.
    – SevenSidedDie
    Commented Sep 15, 2013 at 19:25
  • @SevenSidedDie I think it's still a dupe; either an answer can be added that addresses 1.6+ specifically, or one can be updated to include that information as well. We don't need two separate questions asking the same thing, only differentiated by versions. Our usual course of action in these cases is to bounty the original question, not ask an entirely new question. That way, one single question holds all the answers, regardless of version.
    – Frank
    Commented Sep 15, 2013 at 19:26
  • @fbueckert I'm not entirely persuaded, given the precedent set by the questions about the Minecraft PE menu changes and world-saving are version-specific (and for good reason). However, the fact that username scripts are almost always for nefarious purposes puts me back on the fence since that makes me just not care about helping as much...
    – SevenSidedDie
    Commented Sep 15, 2013 at 19:29
  • @fbueckert There aren't previous questions, because the ability to do it was straightforward, so our questions are about "wtf why can't I?" since the game changed in a way that made the previous method impossible.
    – SevenSidedDie
    Commented Sep 15, 2013 at 19:36

1 Answer 1

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Yep it is, although a bit more of a hassle than it used to be.

First, disconnect your internet and go to your .minecraft folder. Directly in the .minecraft folder should be a file called launcher_profiles.json (1.16.4+: launcher_accounts.json); open it up with any text editor. The very last part before the } }} should show "displayName": and then your name in quotation marks. Edit your name to whatever you want to change your name to and then save it and open up the launcher.

Because your internet is disconnected it will only let you play on offline mode. You need to keep your internet disconnected until you click "Play offline" on the launcher, otherwise it will connect and realise your username is wrong.

Once the game has started you're free to reconnect to your internet, and you should have the name you chose. This will only work on singleplayer and servers with offline mode on, not LAN or online servers.

This literally just changes your display name, so if anybody else is wondering, it can not be used to pirate the game or anything like that.

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  • Just so you know, this does let you pirate the game in a way, it allows two people to play on the same server or LAN game provided that the server is in offline mode. This, of course, still requires at least one account to be purchased.
    – Mark Kramer
    Commented Mar 26, 2015 at 3:08
  • @MarkKramer That's not allowing people to pirate. The piracy will have occurred if a person unlawfully downloads the game files, not when the person changes their display name.
    – SirBenet
    Commented Mar 26, 2015 at 17:06
  • @MarkKramer The server will try to authenticate you and fail with "Failed to verify username!" if you change it in this manner.
    – kbolino
    Commented Nov 29, 2015 at 17:45
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    In my launcher_accounts.json it is not displayName, it's minecraftProfile / name, still works the same.
    – Fozi
    Commented Feb 27, 2021 at 20:21
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    I don't use this any more, but it can but useful when developing plugins to have a secondary player. It seems to have broken with the Microsoft accounts update.
    – TheKodeToad
    Commented Jan 18, 2022 at 9:14

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